By Abidin Mutlu Bozdag
ISTANBUL (AA) – The body of an Azerbaijani crew member killed in a pirate attack on a container ship in the Gulf of Guinea was airlifted to Turkey early Wednesday.
The body was airlifted from Gabon’s capital Libreville to Istanbul by a Turkish Airlines plane.
It will be sent to Azerbaijan at 07.30 a.m. local time (0430GMT) on Turkish Airlines flight from Istanbul to Baku.
In the pirate attack Saturday, 15 of the cargo ship’s 19 crew members were abducted, while an Azerbaijani national was killed.
Following the attack, the Liberian-flagged ship Mozart anchored Sunday at nearby Port-Gentil, Gabon, but with only three of its surviving crew members on board.
Turkey is doing everything it can to get back the 15 kidnapped sailors – all apparently Turkish nationals – though the pirates have not made any contact with officials, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Monday.
